The fighter formation participating in the joint exercise continued through the sky.
One fighter climbed above the aircraft that had left formation after its pilot suspected a malfunction. It rolled upside down, allowing the pilot to inspect the other jet's upper fuselage through the canopy.
"W-What is that?"
There was some kind of image on the fighter's back.
What the hell was going on?
No matter how much this country loved anime culture—with its character-themed clothing, itasha, and everything else—had someone really gone so far as to decorate a fighter jet?
But there was no way something this obvious could have escaped notice.
The aircraft never would have been cleared for takeoff without someone spotting the image during inspection.
Number Three had only just reported discovering something strange on the fighter's back.
Had the image appeared out of thin air?
The pilot was preparing to contact the fleet's command center when startled voices erupted over the communications channel.
"You've got to be kidding!"
"The ocean was vaporized?"
From their altitude, the fighter formation had a clear view of what was happening.
Several kilometers ahead of the joint fleet, ten enormous depressions had appeared in the sea immediately after the flashes of light.
It looked as though the ocean's surface had suddenly collapsed, leaving ten vast cavities behind.
The surrounding seawater immediately rushed in to fill them, while enormous clouds of white mist billowed into the air.
The water pouring into the cavities appeared to be boiling.
Because the impacts had occurred dangerously close to the joint fleet, the resulting turbulence spread across the surrounding waters.
Several warships had been sailing relatively close together. The violent currents nearly caused them to collide.
...
Inside the private room of the upscale café, the members of the special operations unit who had stormed in stared at the holographic display in shock.
Their commanding officer's face had turned especially grim.
He had originally intended to berate Kikuoka Seijirou for attacking one of his own men. Now, however, he understood why Kikuoka had reacted that way.
He didn't believe the images were fabricated. He and Kikuoka had known each other for years, and Kikuoka's reaction proved that what they were seeing was real.
Apparently, the unit's sudden intrusion had accidentally triggered something that nearly wiped out the entire joint fleet in a single strike.
The commanding officer tightened his grip on his assault rifle and aimed it at the man sitting across from Kikuoka.
A holographic control panel was floating in front of Kain. If he activated another command, he might launch a second attack.
"Raise your hands above your head and get down on your knees!"
The commanding officer barked the order at the mysterious young man, leaving no room for argument. He raised his weapon slightly, moving the laser sight from Kain's heart to his head.
"Don't make any sudden movements, or—"
Bang!
The gunshot made the commanding officer's expression darken.
Kain had refused to cooperate and appeared to be reaching for his coffee.
But the commanding officer hadn't fired.
The shot had come from his deputy.
His anger immediately turned to astonishment and alarm.
The bullet had traveled halfway across the table before bursting into sparks in midair, as though it had struck a piece of metal.
That was exactly what had happened.
The metal object was the long sword wielded by the blindfolded woman standing behind Kain. She had drawn the blade and intercepted the bullet.
Yet only a second before the gunshot, the commanding officer was certain that her sword had still been sheathed.
What kind of reaction speed was that?
Had she actually cut a bullet out of the air?
"2B, disarm them," Kain ordered. "Incapacitating them will be enough."
"Understood, Commander."
The exchange made the special operations commander's expression change.
Before he could react, a cold flash swept across his vision.
The assault rifle in his hands split cleanly in two, its severed edges perfectly smooth.
Before the detached half could even hit the floor, he reacted on instinct, drew his handgun, and aimed ahead.
The silver-haired woman had vanished.
A series of noises reached him before his peripheral vision could locate her: soldiers' strangled cries, bodies slamming heavily into the walls, and destroyed firearms clattering across the floor.
By the time he finally caught sight of her at the edge of his vision and swung his weapon toward her, she was already standing directly in front of him.
Another flash of steel swept past his face.
Several strands of his hair drifted through the air, and the handgun in his grip fell apart.
Thud!
The pommel of 2B's sword slammed into his abdomen.
The blow drove nearly all the air from his lungs, leaving him unable even to cry out in pain.
Kikuoka was the only person in the room who hadn't been attacked.
By the time he recovered from his shock, all eight members of the team that had stormed the room were already lying on the floor. Every firearm they had carried had been destroyed.
Beyond the open door, he heard more bodies falling one after another.
So this was why they had shown no fear of fully armed soldiers.
That level of combat ability was beyond anything a human could display. It had already surpassed the physical limits of the human body.
Kain deactivated the holographic projection and reached for the device sitting in the middle of the table.
At that exact moment, the deputy commander—who had seemingly been knocked unconscious—suddenly lunged up behind him and pressed a compact pistol against his head.
Kikuoka felt the air shift behind him.
The silver-haired woman had returned from the hallway.
"Don't move," the deputy commander warned her. "Otherwise, I can't guarantee your commander's safety."
The officer threatening Kain held the rank of major in the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force.
Despite having a gun pressed against his head, Kain ignored him and continued adjusting the device in his hands.
Kikuoka's expression changed sharply at this seemingly arrogant display of indifference. He could see the ruthlessness gathering in the major's eyes.
"Looks like I need to teach you—"
Shnk!
The sound of a blade piercing flesh cut him off.
A second sound had come immediately before it—the wet noise of flesh being severed.
The two had occurred so close together that they almost overlapped, with the louder impact drowning out the quieter one.
"Mr. Kikuoka, I think we'll end today's discussion here," Kain said. "Go back and think carefully about everything we've discussed. We can hold another meeting once you've made your decision. I hope your attitude will be better next time instead of repeating what happened today."
Unless the people in charge had completely lost their minds, this warning should be enough.
Kain's future operations would be much easier after today.
He walked past Kikuoka and left the café with 2B.
"Phew…"
Only after the sound of their footsteps had completely faded did Kikuoka rise. His strength immediately deserted him, and he collapsed back into his chair, releasing a long breath.
Directly in front of him, the deputy commander was screaming.
A dagger had been driven through one of his arms, pinning it to the wall.
It wasn't even the arm that had held the gun.
That arm was no longer attached to the major's body. It had been severed cleanly at the shoulder and now lay on the floor.
The instant the major tried to fire, Kain had reacted so quickly that the human eye could barely follow him. He had cut off the gunman's arm, drawn a dagger from the major's own equipment, and used it to pin his other arm to the wall.
That reaction speed had also surpassed human limitations.
No wonder Kain had remained so calm with a gun pressed against his head.
No wonder 2B had been willing to leave the room and deal with the soldiers outside without worrying about her commander's safety.
Her commander was even more dangerous than she was.
Casually crippling a single person with a flick of his hand wasn't the truly terrifying part.
The terrifying part was that, with a few simple commands, he could annihilate a fleet powerful enough to overwhelm a medium-sized country.
(End of Chapter)
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